


Shadows of Seattle, Vampires in New York

by roseclaw



Series: Slayer'verse [7]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Empires, High School Musical, My Chemical Romance, Panic At The Disco
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-22
Updated: 2009-11-22
Packaged: 2017-10-03 14:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseclaw/pseuds/roseclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan and Chad are into something dangerous. Sharpay really hopes it's not a cult, but Ryan should know well enough that punch unbalances his body chemistry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadows of Seattle, Vampires in New York

**Fandom**: HSM with some BtVS lore mixed in and Bandom (MCR, PatD, Empires, HM, CS, and GCH - I keep on collecting bands here.)  
**Pairing**: Zeke/Sharpay, Chad/Ryan, Bob/Frank  
**Rating**: PG  
**Word Count**: ~6k  
**Spoilers**: nope  
**Warnings**: Mild violence.   
**Author's Note**: I kinda hate this fic. Sorry. Beta by 'cause she's awesome like that.  
**Disclaimer**: HSM is that of Disney and Ortega. Buffy is that of Joss. All bands are that of themselves. Title from Marcy Playground.  
**Disclaimer 2**: Sharpay and Frank like to end sentences with prepositions. Do not hold this against me.   
**Summary**: Ryan and Chad are into something dangerous. Sharpay really hopes it's not a cult, but Ryan should know well enough that punch unbalances his body chemistry.

 

Shadows of Seattle, Vampires in New York

 

Ryan and Danforth were into something dangerous; Sharpay was sure of it. They always headed out together and came back disgustingly late at night - if they came back at all. It might be drugs. Whenever Sharpay asked her brother about anything involving his outings with Danforth, he refused to answer anything definite. Or anything more than a monosyllabic grunt, which was horribly uncouth of him.

And it was frustrating.

So Sharpay resulted to subterfuge. Naturally.

At first the subterfuge had an obvious result. Like that time Sharpay scrolled through Ryan's saved text messages on his cell phone when he was asleep. All she was able to determine was that her brother received texts from McKessie, Danforth, and people she had only heard about in passing conversation (Bob and Frank), and that Frank had atrocious spelling.

Then there was that weird time over April break when Ryan had acted strange and only wanted to see Danforth. Didn't want to eat or drink or dance. And his hat never matched his outfit. He just wanted Danforth. He had even resorted to begging her.

That had been over a month ago, and things had improved drastically. Ryan wanted to go shopping with her again. But weird things were happening again. Sharpay hated it when things like that happened unexpectedly. It was like she didn't know whether to wear her hair up or down or wear pink. Well, pink went with every situation, so that was so totally not the issue. The issue was that her brother had been sucked into something dangerous by Danforth and McKessie, so weird things were happening to _Sharpay_. How was _that_ fair? It wasn't. That's how. But summer was less than a month away. Sharpay would be queen then, and all this nonsense would be over.

Danforth and McKessie had been hanging around Sharpay at school, and that didn't help the situation. They were, like, watching her. It was creepy, among other things. But it drew more attention to Sharpay's new top. Her mother had brought it back from her last trip to Paris, and it was adorable. That didn't make the staring any less creepy.

And other weird things happened to her too. There was that one time Sharpay had been walking down the hallway and was pushed! But there had been no one else in the hallway. And when her favorite pair of pumps had gone missing, then miraculously appeared in her gym locker of all places looking like they had been attacked with a chainsaw. She had blamed Ryan for this, even though she knew Ryan would never go anywhere he might encounter girls in various stages of undress. Sharpay had no idea what was going on, and she didn't like that she didn't have control of the situation. That bothered her the most.

It was only when "Die Sharpay" was carved into the paint of her car right in front of her eyes that she thought there was a real problem. The problem being that someone had messed up the paint job on her car. And that someone wanted her dead. And that this someone was some sort of engineer to rig the paint to scratch like that without anyone being around.

Sharpay had gone directly to Taylor McKessie. Things like this always happened more when she was around. Directly might have been too strong of a word. First, she threw a fit, then she called Daddy - who only did an adequate job of calming her, then she went to the filthy autobody shop to have her car detailed again. The next day she spoke to McKessie.

Throughout the entire ordeal, McKessie nodded in all the right places, but she had this, like, skeptical expression on her face, like Sharpay was saying pink was ugly. After Sharpay was done dishing about all the horrible things that had happened to her, McKessie said, "Why are you telling _me_ this?"

Sharpay scoffed. "Because all of this weird stuff happens around you." McKessie was not as smart as she thought she was, not if Sharpay had to explain how these things worked. If you want the best nails, go to Laura down on Montgomery; if you wanted the best hair, you go to Alexandro on Layton; if you want to know about what had happened to Lisa Meyers whenever she was absent, you went to Katie Jones; if you wanted to know about creepy things, you go to Taylor McKessie. This was how the world worked. Everyone knew this.

"I need to think about this," McKessie said. Then she just left! Without complimenting Sharpay on her new hairstyle that Alexandro was so proud of.

McKessie had disappeared for the rest of the day. Whatever. But then Sharpay's mutinous brother had sent her a text declaring that he was hanging out with Danforth and McKessie, which was so not healthy, not that it mattered, because Sharpay needed McKessie's help, like, now no matter how unhealthy it was.

McKessie finally returned Shapray's pleas - she had lowered herself to saying please! - the next day. "We don't know what's wrong," McKessie said.

"We?" Sharpay asked. McKessie was not the type to use the royal we.

"Yes, we," McKessie insisted. "You're coming with us tonight."

"No," Sharpay said firmly. She had an appointment with Laura. Honestly, Sharpay's cuticles were an absolute disaster, but at least she didn't have split ends anymore, thank Alexandro. Not only that, but there was no way McKessie could boss Sharpay around. No way.

"Yes. We can help you if you join us," McKessie said. God, it sounded like a cult. There was no way Sharpay was doing _that_. Processed sugar unbalanced her body chemistry, and she was not going to let that happen. "Ryan's going to be there." McKessie added.

"You may have sucked Ryan into your little cult," Sharpay sneered. She was proud of her sneer. It wasn't too bitchy or too sarcastic: it had the right amount of attitude. "But you're not going to suck me in too!"

McKessie put her hands on her hips. "_You_ came to _me_ for help, Sharpay. Do you want it or not?" she growled.

"Of course I want help," Sharpay said. She had obviously stooped so low as to ask McKessie. Even with all of the three times they had ever spoken, Sharpay had forgotten that McKessie was a bitch.

"Then you're joining us tonight," McKessie said. "Hitch a ride with Ryan."

She stormed off. Whatever. Sharpay was not going to allow herself to be drawn into whatever dangerous drug cult McKessie had started. Maybe it was a cartel. Sharpay was too high end to become a crack whore. They had stringy hair and gave birth to children not knowing who the father was.

\- - -

Ryan was adamant about Sharpay going with him to wherever they were going. Not that she even knew who _they_ were. Ryan babbled unbecomingly all the way to where they were going. Sharpay could only make out the gist of it, which was that Ryan was so happy Sharpay would finally know, because Ryan hated keeping secrets from her, and they would help �" they had helped Chad and Ryan that time, and this was going to be great. Sharpay couldn't see how it was going to be great. Cults were not cool.

Ryan drove to the outskirts of town, which seemed like the perfect place for cult rituals to take place. No one would hear her perfectly pitched scream. Instead of dragging her out into the desert, Ryan parked in from of a tiny, inconspicuous house. Even in the fading light, it looked drab.

Ryan dragged her to the door and smiled at her before knocking.

A massive man answered the door. "Is that her?" he asked. His voice was low and serious.

"Yes," Ryan said. "Bob, this is Sharpay. Shar, this is Bob." This was the Bob Ryan had been speaking so highly of. Bob was cool, according to Ryan; he just had an unfortunate name, according to Sharpay. Nobody cool was named Bob. Sharpay didn't miss the fact that he was attractive. Nor did she miss the pings from her gaydar.

"Nice to meet you," Bob rumbled. "I wouldn't use your full name around Frank," he advised.

"There's nothing wrong with my name," Sharpay said indignantly. Bob looked amused. He gave Ryan a look Sharpay recognized as superior.

"Shar, I think it would be a good idea if you didn't use your full name," Ryan said calmly. Placating her. Ryan then led her inside the house, which wasn't so much as an actual house as it was a sparsely decorated apartment. And the decorations set up were - ick. Death metal posters? They weren't even framed, just stuck up with thumbtacks. And the Slipknot one was leaning to the left and missing a tack. They didn't even invite her in, which was very rude of them. They ushered her up the stairs of the duplex.

There was a crack then a thump from the basement.

Ryan winced, then left Sharpay standing in the middle of the Spartan living room. Living room may have been a stretch. She doubted anyone lived there. And there was no way she was sitting on _that_ couch. At one point it might have been some sort of blue. And Ryan had left her alone with Bob.

"Would you like something to drink?" Bob asked politely. He couldn't bother to invite her in, but he could ask her if she wanted a beverage. Weird much?

"I don't suppose you have Fiji bottled water?" she asked. She doubted it very much.

"We have glasses and a tap." Bob's expression was intense.

"Never mind then," she said breezily.

Ryan saved her by coming back up the stairs with Danforth and McKessie behind him. They were followed by a tiny man with a lot of tattoos. He also - not very subtly - groped Bob on his way to the freezer, where he took out an ice pack. He sprawled out on the couch and put the ice pack to his thigh.

"Shar, this is Frank," Ryan introduced.

Frank nodded to her in acknowledgement and smirked. "Pull up a chair," he offered.

McKessie grabbed a bottle of processed sugar dyed with Red #5. She sat down on the couch, shoving Frank's legs off so she could sit.

"Sit down," McKessie said, pointing to the kitchen table.

Sharpay sat down. She was the only one who had still been standing.

"At first we thought it was a ghost that was - "

Sharpay interrupted McKessie with sharp laughter. She didn't know what was worse: a ghost or a cult. Thinking it was a ghost was a lot more amusing than a cult, though.

"Shar," Ryan said, placing a hand on her arm. "We're serious."

Damn, her brother believed this crap. That was as bad as any cult.

"We thought it was a ghost," McKessie repeated. "But ghosts aren't solid, meaning what's haunting you isn't a ghost."

Sharpay kept her mouth shut but her eyes clearly said she did not agree with this insanity.

"I know this sounds crazy," Ryan said, "but give it a chance." He and Danforth shared a look.

"You're being targeted by someone who can turn him or herself invisible," McKessie said.

"An invisible person?" Sharpay said incredulously.

"Yes. An invisible person," McKessie repeated.

"Ryan!" Sharpay huffed. "Take me home. Now."

Frank giggled. McKessie hit him.

"No," Ryan said. "We're going to help you."

"No," Sharpay argued. "We're going home."

"No," Ryan said. McKessie looked to Danforth. Danforth reached for Ryan's hand and squeezed it.

"God, Ryan! I can't believe you've been sucked into this - this absurdity!" Sharpay wailed.

"This is true," Ryan said. "You're not going anywhere until we know how to help you."

"You need to tell us everything unexplainable that's happened to you recently," McKessie said.

Sharpay was about to tell McKessie that if it was unexplainable, she wouldn't be able to explain it, but Ryan knew what she was going to say and gave her a warning look.

"Fine," she muttered sullenly. She'd wash her hands of this as soon as she was home. Then forbid Ryan to hang out with these… freaks anymore. "My favorite pumps," she said. "They disappeared from my closet then reappeared in my gym locker completely trashed."

"_That's_ what you were blaming me for," Ryan said with dawning understanding.

"Yeah," Sharpay said to her hands.

"You know I would never go anywhere I might see naked girls," Ryan protested.

Frank giggled. McKessie hit his ice pack. Frank winked. "Can't feel you!"

"I know," Sharpay whined. "It's more logical than a ghost," she insisted.

"Invisible person," Frank corrected, grinning broadly. "Ghosts are different, right, Bob?" He grinned brightly at Bob.

Bob flushed. McKessie choked on her Gatorade.

Frank then started to hum "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" off-key, until Bob threw something at his head. Frank deflected it easily, and he stopped humming - if only because he was giggling too hard to hum.

God, they were immature. And she trusted them to help her? Ugh. She needed a CAT scan to make sure she wasn't going crazy for even considering going to McKessie in the first place. Then she needed to start a campaign to liberate her brother from this nonsense.

"Whatever," Sharpay scoffed.

"There is someone you can't see trying to hurt you, Shar," Ryan said. "That's not a whatever."

"I can't see why anyone would want that," Danforth grumbled, saying something for the first time. Ryan gave him a severe look. Danforth didn't look the least bit repentant.

"We've been observing you," McKessie said. Sharpay knew it! She always knew when her adoring public was watching her. She just didn't want to break that fourth wall, because Shakespeare was right: the world was her stage. It was different now that McKessie was a less talented supporting actor.

Sharpay flipped her hair, preening.

"We saw a lot of things," McKessie said. "Chad even heard someone."

"I don't know what that means," Sharpay said long-sufferingly.

"It means your invisible person has a name," McKessie explained. Why didn't she just say that?

"What are you going to do about it?" Sharpay asked.

"We're going to catch her," Ryan responded fervently. Her?

"And you're going to be the bait." McKessie smiled. It was all teeth. She had a good orthodontist. Sharpay remembered back in middle school McKessie had the most crooked teeth ever.

"Wait. Bait?" Sharpay was not bait material. She was queen material.

Frank and Danforth sniggered then looked at each other disapprovingly.

"You're the best way to lure her out into the open," McKessie rationalized.

"You're the star," Ryan said indulgently.

Of course Sharpay was the star. At least someone recognized that.

\- - -

On her way in to school - from the parking lot to the building - Sharpay ran into someone. He was, like, older and wearing a suit. He should be in college, not high school. Not that he looked the part of either. College students and high school students alike don't wear expensive three-piece Italian suits. (Nor were college students awake at such an early time as before noon.) Sharpay knew class when she saw it. His nose was unfortunate. It was crooked. Too bad he couldn't straighten it along with his suit. She would recommend an excellent plastic surgeon. His stubble was unfortunate too. That could be shaved off.

"Sorry," he said with a crooked grin. Sharpay did not melt at all. He had a slight lisp, but that was nothing a good speech therapist couldn't tackle.

She stared at him until her brother pushed her along to homeroom.

"Stay away from him," Ryan hissed.

"Why?" Sharpay demanded. And why did everyone suddenly think they could boss her around?

"He and another suit show up whenever this invisible person does," Ryan explained.

"I've never noticed him before," Sharpay said.

"Sorry, Shar, you're really not that observant," Ryan pointed out. Ryan wasn't that observant either. It took him, like, three years to realize he had a crush on Danforth. Please.

"You probably didn't notice him either," she grumbled bitterly.

"Taylor did," Ryan said. He didn't sound as bashful as Sharpay had hoped.

"Ugh," Sharpay said feelingly. She hoped McKessie hadn't laid claim to him. Sharpay would hate to sully herself by pursuing the same guy as McKessie. Although it wouldn't be much competition between her and McKessie: Sharpay would win, hands down.

"I know you're not thinking about your safety," Ryan said softly, interrupting her thoughts. "Just because you think he's good looking…" He trailed off. "Sharpay! You just missed the turnoff for Ms. Darbus's room."

Sharpay snapped out of her daydream to focus on her brother. "What?"

"You're going the wrong way," he said. "And Taylor's not interested in him romantically." How did he know Sharpay was thinking about that? And how did he know she wasn't?

"I'm not interested in him romantically, either," Sharpay said wistfully.

"Eww," Ryan stated. "What happened to Zeke?"

"Zeke makes cookies so good I could spontaneously orgasm," Sharpay said conspiratorially with a dreamy look on her face.

"Gross!" Ryan exclaimed.

Gabriella, who happened to be passing them in the hallway, gave them both a considering look. Sharpay did not want to think about what that could mean. Just. Ick.

"He smiled at me," Sharpay stated. "That means he recognizes how amazing I am."

"Zeke does that with his… orgasm cookies," Ryan said, tripping slightly over a proper term for Zeke's cookies. Sharpay liked that term. She'd have to use it. But only in her head. If she used it outside her head, she'd be perceived as uncouth.

"Zeke's cookies or not, I saw something I want, so I'm going to have it," Sharpay said firmly.

Ryan gave her a look. Then Danforth came around and stole her brother out from under her. Whatever. Sharpay saw Zeke heading towards her. It looked like he had orgasm cookies. Sharpay's day was simply divine.

\- - -

At least until someone she couldn't see tried to strangle her. She was on her way to use her bathroom when someone grabbed her blouse, tugging her down to the dirty floor. Then there was a weight on top of her, and fingers she couldn't see curling around her beautiful throat. Her eyes teared up and threatened to ruin her mascara, and there were spots dancing around. The delicate skin on her neck was probably going to bruise, and thank God for foundation.

"Shar!" Ryan shouted, his voice echoing down the linoleum hallway. She could also hear his loafers squeaking as he ran towards her.

Then he did this bastardization of kung-fu. Sharpay couldn't believe her own brother would lower himself to something as primitive as fighting, but she was no longer being choked. There was always a silver lining.

"I can't believe my own brother would lower himself to something as primitive as fighting," she sneered.

"I'm sorry for saving your life," he said flatly. "Next time I'll find your MIB to save you."

Sharpay scowled at him. He must have picked up that attitude from Danforth. He was such a bad influence on her poor, innocent brother.

"This has nothing to do with aliens," she responded. Because, oh God, Mr. Three-Piece Suit was sauntering down the hallway with another well dressed man. And, "What the hell are you wearing on your feet?!" Sharpay screeched.

The second man scowled. Mr. Three-Piece Suit looked to Sharpay with a bashful expression.

"Fucking again, you douche," the second man said to Mr. Three-Piece Suit, and then to them, "Agent Conrad, and this is Agent Walker." He flashed a badge: FBI. "We're here for the target."

Sharpay had no idea what they were talking about. She was still stuck on the fact that Mr. Three-Piece Suit was wearing flip-flops. With his suit. Sharpay was about to die. Or she had died and was now in fashion hell. She always imagined more mullets, though. She'd have to find Zeke later and drown her fashion sorrows in a fresh batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

The two feds scooped up something and made off with what Sharpay assumed was her attacker. That she couldn't see. It was very surreal. Like all those melty clocks only with people who wanted her dead.

"This has nothing to do with Dali," Ryan said.

"What?" Sharpay asked, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Someone wanting you dead should be as surreal as Dali," Ryan explained. "Maybe you should be nicer to people."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"The girl who wanted you dead use to go to school here. You were horrible to her when she showed up for auditions our freshman year," Ryan continued. "She's invisible because everyone ignored her."

"Whatever," Sharpay scoffed. It wasn't like that type of thing happened all the time.

"Taylor said she would help you learn how to defend yourself," Ryan offered. "You should take her up on that." Ryan's eyes glazed over. "Plus Bob takes off his shirt when he spars."

"Ryan!" Sharpay exclaimed, scandalized. Her brother was not a sexual being. He and Danforth only talked and went on dates and made out in the kitchen after the smoothies they had been making exploded all over them. If they did anything else, Sharpay didn't want to know about it. Unless Danforth broke her brother's heart. Then Sharpay would put a hit out on him.

"C'mon, Shar," Ryan wheedled. "There's more out there than just invisible people who want to kill you. There are other things out there."

"Like ghosts," Sharpay asked flatly, completely facetious.

"Exactly," Ryan said with a smile. "And vampires."

"No," Sharpay said firmly. "And I forbid you from hanging out there again."

"No, Shar," Ryan said, his voice firm. "You don't have a say in where I go, what I do, and who I date."

Sharpay stared at him as he stalked off down the hallway.

He'd come crawling back to her. He always did.

When he dropped whatever silly idea he had in his head. Ryan wasn't the best thinker.

He'd come back.

\- - -

Sharpay didn't need to go looking for Zeke after school: he found her. And he had fresh cookies.

"How did you know?" she gushed at the cookies.

"Ryan," Zeke shrugged, blushing a little. "You had a rough day?" he asked. Like he didn't already know. "You want to tell me about it?"

Sharpay nodded. "Hand over the cookies first."

Zeke laughed good-naturedly. "C'mon, let's go up to Troy's secret spot and kick him out," he suggested.

Sharpay nodded, a cookie already in her mouth.

\- - -

Troy wasn't in his secret spot, so they didn't have the pleasure of kicking him out. Sharpay sat on a bench, poking alternatively between a pink orchid and Zeke's cookies.

"My day was absolutely horrible," Sharpay lamented. "Someone tried to hurt me, and then Ryan said mean things to me. And Mr. Three-Piece Suit wore _flip-flops_!"

Zeke looked at her expectantly. Sharpay had no idea what he was expecting. "That's all?" Zeke asked incredulously.

"Isn't it enough?" Sharpay asked.

"No details?" Zeke pressed.

"Like you'd believe me," Sharpay said with a roll of her eyes.

"You can tell me anything," Zeke urged with a hopeful smile.

Sharpay frowned at him. "No, I can't."

"Ryan told me a little bit about what has you spooked," Zeke admitted.

Ah ha! Ryan was a mutinous traitor! Sharpay knew it. "Ryan told you?" Sharpay scoffed. "Is nothing sacred anymore?"

"I may have bribed him with a cookie," Zeke admitted sheepishly. He even rubbed at the back of his neck. It was very quaint.

"What did he tell you?" Sharpay demanded in her best authoritative voice.

Zeke hesitated.

"Ezekiel!" Sharpay shouted. "My day has been an absolute disaster! I insist that you tell me!"

"He said you needed cookies," Zeke said meekly.

"What else?" Sharpay commanded. Her hair tumbled into her face, but she refused to move it, because that would completely ruin the dramatic effect.

"It was more what he didn't say," Zeke admitted.

"What!?" Sharpay snarled. "You cannot be serious! That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of! I bet you believe in vampires and ghosts too!"

"And witches," Zeke said quietly.

"UGH!!" Sharpay told the world. She grabbed the last of Zeke's cookies and took off. She was not going to subject herself to lunatics.

"Sharpay!" Zeke called after her. He ended up running down the stairs after her. "Sharpay! Wait up!"

He caught up with her on the front steps of the school. Her fabulous heels that made her legs look absolutely amazing (even if they weren't her favorite heels) meant that Zeke could easily catch up to her with his freakishly long basketball-player legs.

"Sharpay, wait! I'll take you shopping if we - "

Sharpay whipped around. "Shopping?" Shopping always made her feel better. And she needed to bring down her blood pressure before she popped a blood vessel. With her luck, it would probably be on her flawless face.

Zeke nodded.

"Okay," Sharpay agreed amiably.

\- - -

Sharpay wasn't feeling as amiable when Zeke drove her downtown. He parked in front of a boutique and coaxed her out of the car and into the boutique.

Zeke somehow managed to convince her to go inside. Sharpay was not exactly sure why she would ever want to enter a shop called Witch Hazel, but Zeke said he needed baking supplies to replace the ones Sharpay had eaten. And Sharpay is all for more orgasm cookies.

Sharpay put on an adorable pout and followed Zeke into the shop.

The shop smelled of cinnamon and something else that Sharpay knew but couldn't put her finger on. It was old whatever it was.

There are three people in a corner talking quietly with each other. Two men and a girl. Sharpay couldn't see the girl's face, but she could see the men well enough, and neither of them had recently been acquainted with a razor. One of them - the shorter one - had a very crooked nose. He was also wearing - was that _flannel_?! The taller one had white skinny jeans on legs that went up to his neck. Their fashion was that of the indie scene - not that Sharpay was acquainted with _that_ scene.

The girl was talking to the men. She was wearing a sweatshirt very similar to Zeke's with the clashing colors and heart with bat wings. She also had stringy hair and an obnoxious laugh.

Sharpay was dead and in fashion hell. There was no other explanation for the disastrous clothing combinations everyone had made throughout the day.

The girl turned around to look at them - Zeke. She smiled at him too.

Sharpay narrowed her eyes. She had dibs on Zeke, and no stringy-haired tart could take him from her.

"Hey, Zeke," the girl said. She didn't even notice Sharpay, which, rude much? "This is Alex and his heterosexual lifemate Ryland." She gestured to the shorter one with the crooked nose and then to the tall one with the freakishly long legs. "They were passing through. Alex does food mag- " She cut herself off, noticing Sharpay, finally.

Except that Sharpay recognized her too. "Pope," she growled.

"Evans," Pope said flatly.

"Uh," Zeke said in a very trapped voice.

"Uh," the one with freakish legs echoed. "We're going upstairs to visit with Travie."

"Don't kill each other, kids," the one with the crooked nose said. And Sharpay would have slapped him for using that condescending tone with her, but Pope was higher up on the list of people who needed to be slapped.

"Baylor!" Sharpay shouted. "Why have you taken me to the same place as _her_?!"

"Uh," Zeke said.

"Zeke!" Pope said. "Why is _she_ here?"

"Uh," Zeke said.

"We're leaving!" Sharpay announced.

"No, Sharpay," Zeke said firmly.

"Excuse you!?" Sharpay demanded. There was no way Ryan _and_ Zeke were telling her 'no' _on the same day_.

"No, Sharpay," Zeke repeated. "Whatever history you two share, you can put it aside for a moment."

"She took the lead from me," both Sharpay and Pope said at the same time. They then turned to glare at each other.

"Five times in a row," Pope added snidely. "Because she bribed the director."

"You two go to different schools," Zeke pointed out. "You don't compete with each other there. Don't worry about any other place."

Both girls glared at Zeke.

"I can't believe you brought her into my magic shop!" Pope scoffed.

Magic shop?

Sharpay stared at her hard. "What. Did. You. Say?"

"Cassadee," Zeke said softly. "She's the reason I found this place to begin with."

Pope deflated with an obnoxious sigh.

Sharpay was still angry. "Did you say _magic_ shop?" She turned her ire to Zeke. "Is that why you understood what Ryan told you?"

Pope glared at Sharpay. "Of course this is a magic shop, you - "

"Cassadee," Zeke said quickly. "I need some tarragon, myrrh, and bay leaf."

Pope scowled at Zeke. "Yeah. I'll do it." She walked away, not bothering to look back when she asked loudly, "Do you want me to cast the spell or do you want to do it?"

"I don't think you're in any condition to be casting spells," Zeke retorted earnestly.

"Did you say spell?" Sharpay asked. Her voice had lost a lot of its force.

"Yeah, Sharpay," Zeke said in the same soft voice he had used earlier. "I'm a witch."

Sharpay felt a little faint.

Zeke rushed over to her. "Are you okay? You look a little faint."

Sharpay slapped his hand away. "I'm fine," she bit out. "After this you are taking me to that place with the horrible furniture." Because this was the best example of "you can't beat them" if she'd ever seen one. She had never experienced one of those before, and they sucked more in real life than they did in any of the musicals she'd preformed in.

"Sure," Zeke said. "You just need to tell me where that place is."

\- - -

Ryan opened the door. "Zeke?"

"Well," Sharpay demanded. "Aren't you going to ask us in?"

"No," Ryan said.

"What?! How dare you?!" Sharpay shrieked.

"Shar," Zeke said, clearly trying to placate her. He put a hand on her elbow and led her inside. "It's not a discourtesy. He's just trying to make sure that we're not vampires."

Sharpay started and glared at Zeke as Ryan shut the door behind them.

"Is that Zeke?" Danforth called down the stairs.

"Hey, Chad!" Zeke called up the stairs.

Ryan shoved both Sharpay and Zeke up the stairs.

McKessie, Danforth, Frank, and Bob were sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of books in various states of decay.

"Zeke?" McKessie asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Sharpay came to apologize," Zeke said.

Sharpay huffed, because she totally hadn't.

"I forgive you, Sharpay," Ryan said softly.

"Wait," Frank said. "Her name is shar-pei?" He then doubled over from cackling so hard.

Sharpay sneered at him.

McKessie gave Frank a look before she stood up. "Hello, Zeke. This is Frank, and this is Bob. I heard what you said about vampires."

Sharpay's fairly certain that Zeke blushed.

"Yeah," Zeke admitted. "I - Travis, who owns the apothecary downtown, he told me all about vampires. Um. I know that you're the Slayer."

"Taylor," Bob said in a dangerous voice. "We've discussed keeping your secret identity a secret."

"I didn't tell him!" McKessie protested.

"This is high school," Ryan pointed out dryly. "There's no such thing as a secret."

"You have a really impressive high kick," Zeke continued sheepishly.

"Fuck yeah, she does," Danforth agreed enthusiastically.

"Okay, eww," Sharpay felt compelled to point out.

"I don't mind," McKessie said. "It's not really demeaning, because I can always demonstrate on them." She gave Chad an evil smile that showed a lot of teeth.

"I meant that it's too much information," Sharpay scoffed.

"I thought you were here to apologize," Ryan said. "Don't make it worse."

"That's not too much information," Frank said through his giggles. "Too much information was when she walked in on me and - "

"You're done, Iero," Bob said.

"Your name is Frank Iero?" Zeke asked as if that meant something. "That's really familiar."

Frank studied him. "If I were to say that his name is Bob Bryar, would that mean something?"

Zeke frowned but nodded.

"Oh." Frank looked to Bob. "Well, that was inevitable."

Bob shrugged but didn't say anything.

"What was inevitable?" McKessie demanded in a low tone.

Frank gave her a look that Bob echoed, and McKessie gave them a curt nod. Whatever, it's not like there were other people in the room who wanted to know what was going on.

Instead of saying anything aloud, like a normal person, McKessie changed the subject. "What made you change your mind, Sharpay?"

"Pope," Sharpay said airily.

"The pope made you change your mind?" Danforth asked stupidly.

"No," Sharpay scoffed. "Cassadee Pope. Apparently she's a witch, but she's still not good enough to land leads."

"You spoke with Cassadee?" McKessie asked slowly.

"She's been teaching me magic," Zeke said.

McKessie looked at Zeke in a very menacing manner.

"Cassadee is a horrible person," McKessie said flatly.

Sharpay never thought she would ever agree with anything McKessie ever said, but there it was. Sharpay nodded in agreement.

"No, she's not," Zeke said. "She's really nice, and so's Travis."

"Zeke," McKessie said, looking to Danforth and Sharpay's brother. "She's done horrible things."

Everyone looked to McKessie.

McKessie sighed. "Over April break, she cast this really debilitating spell on Chad and Ryan."

"What are you talking ab- oh," Danforth said with dawning horror. He looked to Ryan. "Did you know this?"

Ryan's cheeks turned pink, and he stared at the floor giving a terse nod.

"What the hell, Taylor?" Danforth shouted. "At least tell me it was her nose you broke."

"Shut up, Chad," Taylor growled. "We'll talk about it later."

"She's not a bad person," Zeke insisted. "She's been teaching me magic. Uh, food magic."

Sharpay fixed Zeke with a glare. "Are you saying your orgasm cookies are enhanced?"

Frank hooted. "Orgasm cookies!"

McKessie turned to Frank. "Clearly you've never eaten one."

"I thought they were organic!" Sharpay continued, because who cared what McKessie had to say.

"Alright," Bob said, his voice booming. "We're in the middle of researching something important. If you're going to have existential teenage angst in our living room, do it while reading a book."

Sharpay was affronted. "Why would I pick up one of those nasty books?"

"Because it'll keep your designer ass in tact," Danforth informed her. Frank giggled at that.

Sharpay stared at him with her mouth open.

"A witch would be helpful," McKessie said to Bob.

Bob eyed Zeke critically. "Maybe. But we do have to talk about keeping this secret identity a secret."

McKessie shrugged. "Hey, guys, sit down and look for anything that mentions the sidhe."

"The she?" Zeke asked.

"No, fairies," Ryan said. He sat down next to Danforth's side and wrapped an arm around his waist.

Sharpay sighed but sat down on the floor - after brushing it off - and opened a book with her fingernail.

Zeke sat down next to her.

Whatever. Weirder things had probably happened in high school, and Sharpay hated being out of the know. But that didn't leave Ryan off the hook.

End.


End file.
